Taekwondo has become a major part of many international sports events. Starting as an original Korean Martial Art Taekwondo nowadays has risen to the heights of Olympic acknowledgement. After being a demonstration sports event twice - in Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 - it was incorporated as a full Olympic discipline in Sydney 2000. The European Taekwondo Union is the official governing body of all Taekwondo matters in Europe. It consists of the National Taekwondo Federations of all European member nations and regulates all Taekwondo matters on a continental basis.
Historical Retrospection of the W.T.E:
Foundation: May 2nd 1976
First participating countries: Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Denmark and England.
First President: Antonio Garcia de la Fuente
First Secretary General: Marco Saila
First Technical Director: Mr. Kyung Myung Lee (now Ex-Deputy Secretary General WTF)
First European Championships: in Barcelona on May 22nd - 23rd 1976.
Second President: Heinz Marx from Germany, elected on October 19, 1978 in Munich
Third President: Michael Cloesen from Belgium, elected on May 25, 1988 in Ankara
Fourth President: Marco Saila, elected on June 15, 1991 in Piancavallo
Fifth President: Athanasios Pragalos from Greece, elected on February 15th 1999 in Athens
